Paradise
by NextGeneration18
Summary: Takes place years after the Death Cure, where Newt is an Immune, everyone has their own family and the Flare is only something that their kids learn in school. Lame Summery, I know. Thomas/Brenda Minho/Sonya Newt/OC
1. Early Morning

**I thought I'd do some fluffy ones, because after that tragic series, it's probably about time for some.**

 **I'll start with Newt's Family.**

Aunica Newton woke up under a nice soft blanket and a warm bed. She rolled onto her back and peered out of her bedroom window as the early morning sunlight filtered onto her bed and face.

She rolled back onto her side and curled up into a tight ball. She didn't want it to be morning just yet. It was too early.

She heard footsteps from her hallway and recognized the person immediately by the uneven rythem they made and inwardly groaned. She knew what was coming next…

"Come on, Aunica; get up, time to get ready for school and fix your bloody lunch."

Her father shook her gently and Aunica slowly uncurled herself and opened one blue eye.

"Atta girl; I didn't think you were asleep."

Aunica sat up and stretched. Sometimes she hated on how her father knew her so well.

"I wish school wasn't so early in the morning." she immediately regretted what she said because she already knew Newt's answer. He gave a short laugh.

"Early? When I was your age, I was up before the sun. This-" he pointed out the window, "Is nothing. I'll leave so you can get changed." He limped out the door and closed it behind him.

15 minutes later, Aunica was ready to go out the door, and her mother was going through her part of the morning routine.

"Homework?" Jayne asked.

"Check."

"Lunch?"

"Check."

"Brush your teeth?"

"Check."

"Alright. See you after school, sweetie." she leaned down and kissed her daughter on her head, "Love you."

"Love you too." It wasn't the first time she thought this, nor would it be the last. She wished she were beautiful like her mother who had long red hair, glowing green eyes complete with an attractive smile that drew in everyone like moths to a flame. Aunica briefly wondered how she got the short end of the beauty stick with such a mother. Instead, she was too thin, had blonde hair and blue eyes, and looked for all the world to see like a female version of her father.

"Bye, Mom; bye, Dad."

"Bye, honey."

"Catch you later, love."

Aunica ran out the door so she wouldn't be late.

 **Alright. That was boring. Let's hope the next chapter is better.**


	2. Freinds

**Wow! Two reviews, already; I didn't expect that!**

 **Utilarianshark: Sorry, but when all was said and done, I decided to stick with the Brenda and Thomas ship. I like both for different reasons. But one of the reasons I stuck with this one was because I already have one or two people who like this particular story line. Plus, I already resurrected Newt, so I don't want to alter the original story _too_ much. So yeah...sorry.  
**

Aunica raced through the field and toward the path that was created to go through the woods to the other side to where the school was.

Kids from all around the county were filtering toward the path including one of her best friends, Chan Park.

"Chan, wait up!"

Chan turned around with a smile with his book satchel slung across his back. Tall and handsome, he was every bit like his father, Minho, full of sass and sarcasm, but with a good heart to temper it.

"Hey, Aunnie," he teased as she ran toward him. She decided to ignore her most detested nickname that he called her.

"Hey," she slowed down next to him and they both walked side by side.

"You're running a little late," his teasing smile didn't disappear, "I'm starting to think living so close to the school has made you a little lazy. Makes you think that you can sleep in a few more minutes."

Aunica decided not to tell him that that was her father's theory as well.

"So you have any plans for Paradise Day?" she asked.

Every year, the town got together and celebrated the day they escaped the Flare-infested world and came to live here, where they aptly named it Paradise. They would play games, hold contests, and would dance until the sun went down where they would then shoot off fireworks to end the holiday.

Chan shrugged.

"I'm going, of course."

"You have a dance partner yet?"

Chan hesitated.

"Well…I _was_ thinking about asking a girl, but she already got a partner."

"Oh. That stinks. Who was it?"

"Oh. No one in particular."

"Mhm."

"You don't believe me."

"I didn't say that." her laughing eyes told him otherwise.

Just then, Brianna and Cameron Edison appeared behind them.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Briana came up next to Aunica and linked arms with her. She was, after all, Aunica's best friend.

"Oh, nothing much," Aunica winked at Chan, "Just trying to figure out this mystery girl that Chan was going to ask to the dance."  
"Hmm. I wonder who?" Aunica couldn't tell if Cameron was being serious or not.

Chan sniffed the air.

"Dude. Are you wearing… sandalwood cologne?"

Brianna burst out laughing.

"Yep! He swiped it from Dad's bathroom!"

Cameron blushed.

"You trying to attract a lady?" Chan's teasing smile was back…and this time, it was aimed right at his best friend.

Cameron shrugged.

Brianna smiled devilishly.

"Hmm. Who is it this year? Is it Sadie? No, wait, Rebecca? Nope? Lily?"

"Has to be." Chan smirked, "He's had a thing for Lily a little while now."

"I knew it!" Aunica snapped her fingers.

Cameron glared at Chan.

"How about I exploit _your_ crush, Chan?"

"Whoa, man," Chan help up a hand, "Don't bring me into this. Your sister started the conversation."

"Has to be that mystery girl," Aunica smiled, "I'll figure it out."

Brianna rolled her eyes.

"You know, I kind of envision her with blonde hair…"

"Blue eyes…" Cameron continued while Chan alternately glared daggers between the two of them. The Edison twins had inherited a double douse of their mother's impish tendencies.

"I can picture you with a blonde," Aunica said thoughtfully. Beside her, Brianna palmed her forehead though Aunica didn't notice. Cameron just shook his head.

"Well, whatever the case is," Chan was getting desperate to change the subject, "you better watch your step, Cameron. After all, her mother's the history teacher and her father's the PE teacher. Getting on the wrong side of Lily could earn you an F- in once class, and a pole jump in the other."

"Harriet's a nice woman," Cameron pocketed his hands, "And Mac loves me."

"For now, shuck face, for now. Just like your dad and Aunica's dad, Mac has a high level of OPDS, and Harriet was the leader of Group B for two years, so do _not_ underestimate her. She's liable to kill you while you sleep."

" 'OPDS'?" Brianna and Aunica asked at the same time.

"Overprotective Dad Syndrome," Chan and Cameron responded in unison.

"Ahhh…" both girls responded.

"Yeah, our dads have got that pretty bad." Brianna tilted her head in agreement.

"No kidding." Aunica looked at her best friend, "My dad may walk with a limp, but he can use a gun like a pro."

"And what about mydad who's _not_ injured?" Brianna's eyes widened, "He's the nicest guy in the world until some dude gets it in his head that he can be buddy-buddy with him dad to get to me."

"My mom tends to cushion him."

"My mom _joins_ him."

"And Brenda would," Chan nodded towards her.

"And she does."

"So you _don't_ have a dance partner?" Aunica raised an eyebrow toward her.

"Oh, they're fine with that as long as the guy's not grabby. It's just a dance and they would like me to have a partner for that, though I don't yet."

"Chan doesn't have a partner yet."

"No offense, Chan, but…"

"Not taken. If I was going to have a partner, it would've been that girl I was going to ask, but she got asked. I'm not that into dancing anyway."

"You're so good at it though." Aunica looked back up at him.

Chan shrugged.

"Doesn't mean that it's my favorite thing in the world to do."

"True."

The school came into sight and they were silent as they made their way out of the woods and into the front yard of the school.

"Brianna!"

They all turned to see Gary Carter come up to them with a rose in one of his hands. His intent was obvious.

Like his father before him, Gary wasn't the most attractive person in the world, but he wasn't exactly ugly either. By the way, their teachers talked, Gary was 50x nicer than Gally was at that age. Gally would agree.

"Hey, Gary, what's up?"

Aunica unhooked her arm from Brianna's so they could talk.

Gary looked uncharacteristically shy as he looked down at the ground and kicked an invisible pebble.

"Well…Paradise Day is only a few days away…and I don't have anyone to go to the dance with. I know you've probably been asked already…but, er…" he held up the rose, "Would you like to go with me?" he blushed and forced himself to look up at her.

Brianna blinked.

"Um," she laughed almost nervously and took the rose. Gary was obviously surprised she did, "I'll think about it."

Gary blinked a few times.

"Alright." he smiled, "Guess, I'll see you in science." he walked away.

"I think you just made that guy's day," Chan remarked moving his satchel to his other hand.

"He's kind of sweet, don't you think?" Brianna looked to her friends and brother for feedback.

Both Chan and Cameron shrugged.

"Sure, I guess," Cameron said, "He's…Gary."

"He's not a bad guy," Chan agreed.

"I think he's kind of sweet." Aunica smiled.

Brianna smiled and studied the rose.

"Maybe I'll say yes."

Now that, Aunica thought, would be the most mismatched couple at the dance. Pretty, popular Brianna with quiet, not-so-popular Gary. But stranger things had happened before.

Lily came into sight, and Cameron smiled.

"Lily!" he waved and the pretty dark skinned girl walked over to him.

"Hi, Cam," she greeted, "Chan, Aunica, Brianna."

"Hey." everyone responded.

"Listen," Cameron grinned in a suave sort of way, "I was wondering if you…"

"What's that smell?" Lily covered her nose.

"Huh?" Cameron blinked, "What smell?"

"It almost smells like sandalwood."

"Huh?" Cameron blinked again, "Oh. I _am_ wearing sandalwood cologne."

Lily's eyes widened and she took four big steps back.

"I'm sorry, Cam, but I can't be near you right now. I'm deathly allergic to sandalwood!"

"Wait, you are?"

"Uh huh."

Beside him, Chan started to snicker. Cameron glared indirectly at him.

"See you in history."

"Wait. Lily!" she ran into the school.

Chan burst out laughing.

"Oh, man," he covered his face, "Oh, man! You really messed _that_ one up!" he continued to laugh.

Cameron glared at him.

"Ha. Ha. No one would happen to have a bar of soap, right?"

Everyone shook their heads. The girls looked sympathetic while Chan continued to look smug.

Cameron sighed.

"It figures."

"There's always tomorrow," Brianna encouraged.

"Maybe," Cameron shrugged, "Or maybe not."

The school bell rang.

"Well, we'd better get inside," Chan shifted his satchel as the four of them walked up the front steps.

 **Please review and comment. But please, no foul language and/or character bashing.**


	3. Of Math, Greg and PE Class

Since they all had the same class together, Aunica, Chan, Brianna and Cameron walked into the same room to where math was just beginning.

"Pst, Aunica, over here!"

Aunica looked and smiled when she saw Peter, her dance partner gesturing over to her with one hand and patting the empty seat next to him with the other.

Though usually she sat next to Chan or Brianna, Aunica decided to sit next to Peter.

She slid in next to him and set her books on top of her desk.

Chan and Cameron sat behind her and Cameron whispered, "Jealous?" to someone. Aunica craned her neck to see who he was talking to and Chan looked like a deer in the headlights for some reason. She scrunched her eyebrows together.

"Alright, class, let's get started," Mrs. Brenner, the teacher stood at the front desk.

Aunica turned to face the teacher and focus on her worst subject.

After class Brianna and Aunica were chatting at their conjoined lockers when Greg Carter walked up to them with an apple in one of his hands.

"Here, Brianna," he offered it to her.

Brianna forced a smile.

"Um…the teacher's that way?" she jutted her thumb towards one of the classrooms.

Greg laughed.

"Cute. No, it's for you. Dance with me at the Paradise festival."

Greg was Gary's older brother, and the differences didn't stop at their ideas of gifts for girls. From what their parents have told them, Greg was worse than Gally ever was at that age.

"Oh…I possibly couldn't…" Greg raised his eyebrows in her direction, "I'm considering someone else."

Greg smirked.

"I'll see if I can't get you to say yes." he took a bite of the apple and walked away.

Aunica raised her eyebrow.

"Both Carter brothers in one day? What did they do, bet on you or something?"

"Probably not. More likely, Greg saw Gary ask me and was trying to see if he could usurp his brother."

"Poor Gary. But that would make more sense considering Greg never took an interest in you before this point. Gary, on the other hand, has been stealing glances at you since high school started last year."

"Yeah. Wait, what?"

"Whoops."

"I didn't know that."

"Then I shouldn't have told you. It's been obvious to the entire school Gary's had a thing for you for a little while now."

"Wow. But whatever the case is, I wouldn't dance with Greg Carter if he was the last boy in Paradise. _Especially_ since he decapitated that squirrel last summer."

"No kidding. I'm not sure what's more disturbing. That he did it, or that he built a guillotine for that sole purpose."

"Yeah, that's right up there with drowning kittens in a sack."

Both girls shuddered.

"Well, I just might go with Gary, though I might need to think about it more considering he gets the brunt of Greg's cruelty. Other people have asked me, but I wasn't really interested in dancing with them. Don't ask me why, I just wasn't."

"Gary can take good care of himself. He may be one of the quietest boys in school, but he gives some pretty sharp right and left hooks as you've seen in wrestling."

Brianna tilted her head in agreement.

"True."

The bell rang and Brianna grabbed one of her text books.

"Well, I've got home room."

"And I've got PE." Aunica closed her locker door.

Brianna smirked.

"Have fun; I hear Couch Mac's going to do a combination of pole jumps and salmon ladders."

Aunica groaned.

"Thanks."

Brianna laughed.

"No, problem. See you in history."

"Okay."

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"As you can all clearly see, I've decided to step it up a couple of notches considering Summer Vacation's only a few days away, so let's go out with a bang!"

Couch Mac walked in front of his line of students which included Aunica, Chan, Cameron, Lily and Greg. Lily made sure she as far away from Cameron as possible who frowned at his predicament.

Standing a head taller than Chan who was the tallest boy in school, Couch Mac trained his students like he was training them for the army (Google Henry Simmons to get a good visual of him).

"Now," he clasped his hands behind him, "Who wants to try the pole jump first?"

No one volunteered.

Coach Mac sighed.

"I can't _believe_ half of the kids in here are direct descendents of the Gladers and/or Group B! Lily. No, never mind, I just remembered you're recovering from an ankle sprang. Chan!"

Chan, who stood next to Aunica shut his eyes tight and cringed like he knew he was going to be chosen. He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

"You're first."

"If you say so, sir." Chan had learned a long time ago that his sarcasm and wit only went so far with Couch Mac.

Aunica took a peek at Cameron farther down the line and she could tell he was viewing him through different eyes. The eyes of a guy who wanted to go out with his daughter. And the terror within his eyes was very real.

Chan positioned the pole within his hands.

"Cameron Edison."

Cameron gulped.

"Yes, sir?"

"You're first on the salmon ladder."

His gave a nervous laugh.

"I'm not sure I could…" Couch Mac glared at him, "…but you know it wouldn't hurt to try."

As Cameron positioned himself under the salmon ladder, Chan performed a perfect pole jump.

Coach Mac smiled.

"Now that's what I'm talking about. Do a couple more." he looked at Cameron who hadn't even started the salmon ladder. Aunica felt bad for him.

Cameron held the pole in his hands as looked at his PE teacher who raised an eyebrow. Cameron got to work.

He pulled himself up on the first rung at a painstaking pace while Chan, in contrast flipped around using the pole with ease.

"Okay, okay," Cameron said to himself, "Seven more of these, seven more of these…" he yanked out the pole from the nooks where it was held and latched it into the next nook pulling himself up with a clenched jaw. Repeating the process he pulled himself one more time.

"I can't do anymore!" he cried lowering himself.

"One more!" Coach Mac demanded.

"But-"

"One more!"

"Alright!" Cameron whimpered and pulled himself up one more time. He lowered himself as easy as he could. He let go of the pole and let himself drop on the mat. He hugged himself to rest his arms wincing.

Coach Mac smirked.

"Are you ready for the pole jump?'

"What?!"

"I'm kidding. Take five, Edison."

Cameron breathed a sigh of relief as he walked to a nearby bench.

Coach Mac called in his next victim.

"Carter, you're next!"

Greg groaned and sauntered over to the salmon ladder.

"And, Chan!"

Chan landed on his feet the pole in his hands without breaking a sweat. He looked up.

"Good job. You're next for the salmon ladder. Now, who is next for the pole jump?" he walked down the line of teenagers, each of them, no doubt, wishing to be invisible. He lingered over Aunica who wished she had an excuse.

"Newton, grab the pole and let's get going."

Aunica suppressed a groan knowing it would require her to do more flips if heard.

She paused as she held the pole realizing that it had been a while since she had used it. Chan walked over and stood behind her and grabbed the pole without her letting go of it.

"Hold the pole like this…" he gently moved her hands more to the center as she, for reasons unknown to her, blushed at his nearness, "And stand like this…" he gently turned her by the shoulders, "Put your weight in your jump and you're good to go!" squeezing her shoulders he walked away and Aunica swallowed trying to get her head back in the game. What was wrong with her?

"Newton, let's a move-on; there are more who are going to use the pole too!"

"Yes, Couch Mac." Concentrating hard, Aunica gave a running start then let the pole drop to the ground as she leaped in the air. She felt sweat begin to form on her hands being that she had never been that good with heights. She landed on her feet feeling the impact in her ankles. She blinked. That wasn't so bad! Smiling she did it again. On the third try, however something went wrong.

Maybe her feet weren't positioned right or she had too much weight on one side, because the moment she landed, her right ankle bent sideways.

A shard of pain dug into her ankle and foot as she cried out and fell to the ground.

"Aunica!" Chan was at her side in seconds. He knelt down beside. "How bad does it hurt?"

Aunica threw the pole to the side and sat up on her thigh stifling groans with little success.

By now, the entire group had gathered around her and Chan gently moved her foot. More pain shot through it and Aunica drew in her breath through her teeth.

"Sorry." Carefully he put it down and wrapped both of his arms around her waist. "Now I'm going to stand up now; help me out here."

Aunica nodded and wrapped one of her arms around his shoulders.

"Okay. One, two three, up."

Slowly Chan stood up, and he scooped her up into his arms once he was in the right position.

"I'm taking her to the nurse," he looked at Coach Mac who nodded.

"Alright; everyone back to what you're doing! Just because someone is down doesn't mean everyone turns into a bunch of coach potatoes! Edison, time for the pole!"

Cameron moaned before he could stop himself.

"For that, you'll do three extras, now let's go!"

Chan carried Aunica out of the gym, her arms wrapped around his neck and her head buried in his shoulders trying to stifle whimpers.

"Does it hurt that bad?" his voice was tender towards her.

Aunica pulled her head away from his shoulder.

"Only because my ankle is hanging in midair."

"I'm sorry, I should have let you try to stand."

"No, it's okay; I'll be fine soon." leaning her temple against his shoulder, she processed the moment.

If it wasn't for the fact that she had just sprained her ankle, she would have enjoyed him carrying her in his arms.

It confused her why she was enjoying it so much.

 **This really isn't Aunica's days isn't it? Then again, it hasn't been Cameron's either! Anyway, please review and comment. Please no language and/or character bashing.**


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